New to UMass Lowell? Getting Started with Email is Easy.

UMass Lowell sends official communications via email. Employees are responsible for checking their email on a regular basis.

Faculty and staff email accounts are created automatically once your employee information/contract is entered into the UMass Lowell Human Resource database. New email accounts are typically created within two business days after the Human Resource database has been updated. If there is a delay in creating your account, please call the IT Help Center at 978-934-HELP (4-4357).

The format for all faculty and staff email accounts is Firstname_Lastname@uml.edu. If Firstname_Lastname@uml.edu is already taken, a number will be added to your account name (i.e., Firstname_Lastname1@uml.edu). Your legal first name and last name as documented in the UMass Lowell Human Resources office will be used.

Due to security restrictions, your initial password will be assigned to you by the IT Help Center. To get your password, please call the Help Center line at 978-934-HELP (4-4357). Be prepared to provide personal information to verify your identity.

To access your e-mail, contacts and calendar, you can either configure an email client (for example, Microsoft Outlook) or access your email through the web using Outlook Web App (OWA). If you need assistance, please call the IT Help Center at 978-934-HELP (4-4357).

2. What is my official email address? Your official UMass Lowell email address is Firstname_Lastname@uml.edu. If Firstname_Lastname@uml.edu is already taken, a number will be added to your account name (i.e. Firstname_Lastname1@uml.edu). Your legal first name and last name as documented in the UMass Lowell Human Resources office is used. Your login account name in Outlook Web App (OWA) and any email client is your FULL email address (i.e., John_Smith@uml.edu).

3. How do I read my email from the Web? Open your browser and enter the following: https://exchange.uml.edu
This link provides access to your messages, calendars, contacts, tasks, etc. as well as Global Access Lists from anywhere on the Internet.

4. What is my initial password? Due to security restrictions, your initial password is assigned to you by the IT Help Center at 978-934-HELP (4-4357). Be prepared to provide personal information to verify your identity.

5. Are there any special requirements for my email password? Yes. Password requirements are found on our Self-Service Password Management page. (https://mypassword.uml.edu/)

Exchange Server Mailbox Management/Quotas

1. Why is my mailbox managed so tightly? Exchange Server stores all your data (messages, attachments, appointments, contacts, etc.) on the server until you explicitly remove it. Because of this, you must take precautions to ensure you do not run out of space on the server.

2. What is my mailbox size limit? Faculty and staff mailbox quotas are set at 5 gigabytes (GB). You will receive a warning once you reach 4.5 GB and will have reduced mailbox functionality at 5 GB.

3. Why am I receiving warning messages from the System Administrator about my mailbox size? All mailboxes on Exchange Server 2010 are configured with mailbox limits. Faculty and staff have a mailbox quota of 5 GB. Messages in your Deleted Items, Drafts and Sent Items folders count towards your mailbox quota so be sure to clear these folders on a regular basis.

4. What happens if someone sends me a message when my mailbox is over the limit? When your mailbox is over your limit, new incoming message will be immediately returned to senders with a notification that your mailbox is currently not accepting new messages. Once your mailbox size drops below your limit you will receive new messages.

5. What is the limit on the size of each message? Individual messages cannot exceed 25 megabytes (MB) in size. This includes the body of the message and all attachments.

6. How do I send a message that exceeds the 25 MB size limit? Faculty and staff are encouraged to use the Secure File Transfer service (previously called Dropbox) at https://shareit.uml.edu for sending messages with attachments that will exceed the size limits.

In the lower left of the window, on the navigation bar, click Mail to make sure you are in the correct view.

In the upper left, you will see the Folder list. Your name will be displayed as lastname, firstname. Place the cursor over your name. A small box will display your storage information.

If you are using the full Outlook email client:

Go to Tools on the Outlook toolbar

Click Mailbox Cleanup…

Click View Mailbox Size…

8. How long do messages stay in my Inbox? Indefinitely. Your messages remain in your Inbox until you manually delete them or move them to a different folder.

General Questions/Features

1. What is the maintenance schedule for the email servers? Maintenance for the email servers is scheduled for every first Wednesday of the month from 4-7 a.m. During this time, email service may be interrupted. Unless there is a critical update released from Microsoft, this schedule will be maintained.

2. In the full Outlook email client, how can I change my default view in the Global Address List (GAL) so I see employees? The GAL is the list of names, resources and groups you can browse when you click the To. . . button in an email (this opens the Select Names dialog box). To narrow the search to a certain group (Employees, for example) do the following:

In Outlook's menu bar, click Tools > Address Book.

In the Address Book's menu bar click Tools > Options.

The Addressing dialog opens and the first option is Show this address list first.

Select Employees from the drop-down list and click OK and close the Address Book.

Once you complete this step, the next time you click To. . . in a new email message, the names from the Employees list will display. You can choose to display the rest of the list at any time from within the Select Names dialog box.

3. Why are some of my University-related email messages showing up in the UMass Lowell Proofpoint End User Digest? If you notice University-related messages in your UMass Lowell Proofpoint Spam Catcher, this means the messages simulate spam with special tags and therefore appear as spam to the spam filters. These messages are placed in a quarantined area. For more information regarding this spam filtering application, visit the UMass Lowell Proofpoint Spam Catcher page.

4. How do I submit a Whitelist request? With the new Proofpoint spam filtering application, users can add an address or domain to the Safe Senders List (formally called Whitelist), which tells the Proofpoint anti-spam system to deliver messages that come from those particular addresses directly to your Inbox. There is also an option to add an address or domain to a Blocked Senders List, which tells the Proofpoint anti-spam system to automatically quarantine messages sent from those particular addresses. For more information regarding the Proofpoint spam-filtering application, visit the UMass Lowell Proofpoint Spam Catcher page .

Outlook Web App (OWA)

1. What browsers are supported in OWA 2010? You can use the following browsers on a computer running Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista or Windows 7:

Internet Explorer 7 and later versions.

Firefox 3.0.1 and later versions.

Chrome 3.0.195.27 and later versions.

On a computer running Mac OS X, use:

Safari 3.1 and later versions.

Firefox 3.0.1 and later versions.

On a computer running Linux, use:

Firefox 3.0.1 and later versions.

If you use a Web browser that does not support the full-feature set, OWA will open using the light version.

2. What is the "Use the light version of Outlook Web App" checkbox? The light version of OWA is optimized to support users who are blind or impaired vision, have a slow (dial-up) Internet connection or are using an older Web browser. The key difference between the light and full version is functionality. Several features of OWA are unavailable in the light version.

3. What is the difference between "This is a public or shared computer" and "This is a private computer"? OWA has improved security for the logon page. This security measure is especially useful for those who share a computer or access their email from a public computer in a lab or library.

Your OWA session automatically logs you off after a certain amount of time. When you log on, you specify what kind of computer you are using. If you select This is a private computer, your session will timeout after eight hours. If you select This is a public or shared computer your session will close after 15 minutes. After your session closes, even if you leave your browser open and someone tries to use it, other users will be unable to access your account.

If you are accessing your email in your office, your home, or another private setting, it is recommended you use the Private setting.

4. How can I save a message in my Drafts folder so I do not lose it when composing it? It is important to periodically save your message as you are composing it if you plan to be inactive for periods of time. If you do not save your message, you may lose it if your session times out due to inactivity.To save a message to your Drafts folder, click Save on the OWA toolbar from within the mail message. This is typically next to the Send button.

5. Can I do a spell check in OWA? OWA offers spell check functionality if you are running Internet Explorer on your Windows workstation. To enable spell check when using Internet Explorer:

In the lower left of the window, on the navigation bar, click Mail to make sure you are in the correct view.

Select the Options drop-down menu on the top, right.

Click See All Options… > Settings.

Select Spelling.

Check your options and click Save.

6. How do I change my password in OWA?

In the lower left of the window, on the navigation bar, click Mail to make sure you are in the correct view.

7. Can I manually reset my "from" address in OWA? No. The from address in OWA is automatically configured to your legal first name and last name as documented in the UMass Lowell Human Resources office and cannot be changed. The "from" SMTP address is your official UMass Lowell email address, Firstname_Lastname@uml.edu.

8. How can I configure OWA with a Reading Pane?

In the lower left of the window, on the navigation bar, click Mail to make sure you are in the correct view.

Select View from the drop-down menu option from the OWA toolbar.

Under Reading Pane, select Right, Bottom or Turned Off.

9. How do I send an email to several OWA contacts simultaneously? To send to multiple contacts entries simultaneously, enter their names on the To line of your message, separated by a semicolon (;). Before sending your message, click the Check Names button.

10. In my OWA folder list, I see something called Public Folders. What are these? Public Folders are shared mail folders that reside on the Exchange server. Several University departments and student organizations maintain public folders to provide shared access to email messages or calendars. If you can view public folders when you open your OWA folder list, your account has appropriate permissions to view the public folder hierarchy. However, you may not have permission to read the messages stored in the public folder. If you see a public folder that you'd like to have access to, please contact that department to learn whether your account can be assigned appropriate permissions.

11.Can I add a signature to my OWA outbound email? OWA allows you to add a standard signature to all outbound email. This is how you do that:

In the lower left of the window, on the navigation bar, click Mail to make sure you are in the correct view.

Select the Options drop-down menu on the top, right.

Select See All Options… > Settings

Update your E-Mail Signature.

If you want your signature to appear at the end of your outgoing OWA messages, select Automatically include my signature on messages I send

Click Save.

12. What is the OWA Junk Mail filter? The OWA Junk Mail filter is enabled by default and is used to help in the fight against spam. The filter will put suspected junk mail in the Junk E-Mail folder in OWA. You can configure "safe senders" and "blocked senders" to customize your junk mail filtering rules. You can access these options in Block or Allow settings.

In the lower left of the window, on the navigation bar, click Mail to make sure you are in the correct view.

Select the Options drop-down menu on the top, right

Select See All Options…

Click Block or Allow.

Click Save.

13. How does Content Filtering work? By default, OWA will block some external content in HTML messages, such as pictures or sounds linked within the message. These links are hidden references (not the underlined kind that you click to activate) in the HTML source code to an external location on the Internet, such as a website. They are triggered when the message is opened or previewed, which prompts a download of the external content. While some legitimate senders do this to avoid sending large messages, junk email senders use this technique to verify your email address as a legitimate one. Once verified, you will be targeted directly with more spam. If content is blocked, you will see this message: To help protect your privacy, some content in this message has been blocked. If you're sure this message is from a trusted sender and you want to re-enable the blocked features, click here.

14. How do I forward my email to my non-university account (i.e., Yahoo!, MSN)? The University assumes no responsibility for email forwarded to a non-university account. IT highly recommends that users use their UMass Lowell email account to view campus-related messages and to communicate with faculty, staff and students.
IT cannot recover lost email or support any problems that may occur after forwarding. It is possible users may lose important email messages due to problems including forwarding mail to full mailboxes, invalid email addresses, attachment blocking and spam filters that block valid email messages To set up a mail forward, do the following:

In the lower left of the window, on the navigation bar, click Mail to make sure you are in the correct view.

Select the Options drop-down menu on the top, right.

Select See All Options… > Organize E-Mail > Inbox Rules.

Under Inbox Rules, select New…

For When the message arrives, select [Apply to all messages].

For Do the following, select Redirect the message to… and enter your external email address.

Select More Options…

Select any other options you may want.

Name the rule or keep the default.

Click Save.

15. How do I set up the Out of Office Assistant in OWA?

In the lower left of the window, on the navigation bar, click Mail to make sure you are in the correct view.

Select the Options drop-down menu on the top, right.

Select See All Options… > Organize E-Mail > Automatic Replies.

Click Send automatic replies.

Set up your out of office messages and options.

Click Save.

Remember to change this setting and configure your email client to no longer send automatic replies.
16. When I use the Out of Office Assistant, why do my contacts receive only one copy of my Out of Office message when they have sent me multiple messages? This is by design. The Out of Office Assistant replies to each sender once. This one-reply functionality is to safeguard against looping Out of Office messages between two mailboxes with the feature enabled.

17. Where can I configure other email settings in OWA?

In the lower left of the window, on the navigation bar, click Mail to make sure you are in the correct view.

Select the Options drop-down menu on the top, right.

Click See All Options…

Select Settings.

Click Save.

18. I just emptied my Deleted Items folder in OWA and I accidentally deleted something important. Can I get it back? Yes. After you Empty Deleted Items from OWA, those "emptied" messages go into a waiting area for 14 days before they are permanently purged from our system. During that 14-day period, you can retrieve messages from the waiting area. To do this, right-click the Deleted Items folder and select Recover Deleted Items.

19. I only see a few messages in my OWA in box, but there were dozens when I last looked. Where did they go? ; The default setting for viewing messages in OWA is Conversation Mode by Date. This can be confusing. To turn off this feature:

Click the down arrow next to Conversations by Date under Search Entire Mailbox.

Uncheck the box next to Conversation and select one of the other options.